Engines, for example IC engines burning gasoline, diesel or biofuel, output various harmful substances which must be treated to meet current and future emissions legislation. Most commonly those substances comprise hydrocarbons (HC), carbon monoxides (CO), mono-nitrogen oxides (NOx) and particulate matter, such as carbon (C), a constituent of soot. Some of those substances may be reduced by careful control of the operating conditions of the engine, but usually it is necessary to provide an emissions cleaning module downstream of the engine to treat at least some of those substances entrained in the exhaust gas. Various apparatus for reducing and/or eliminating constituents in emissions are known. For example, it is known to provide an oxidation device, such as a diesel oxidation catalyst, to reduce or to eliminate hydrocarbons (HC) and/or carbon monoxide (CO). Oxidation devices generally include a catalyst to convert those substances into carbon dioxide and water, which are significantly less harmful. As a further example, emissions cleaning modules may include a particulate filter to restrict the particulates present in the exhaust gas from being output to atmosphere.
By use of an emissions cleaning module, engine emissions can be cleaned, meaning that a proportion of the harmful substances which would otherwise be released to atmosphere are instead converted to carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrogen (N2) and water (H2O).
The emissions cleaning module may comprise one or more electronic components for interfacing with one or more sensors of the emissions cleaning module. Such sensors may include temperature and NOx sensors. U.S. Pat. No. 7,192,463 describes a mounting bracket for mounting electronic components to an exhaust gas after treatment filter system. The mounting bracket comprises a plurality of mounting feet which limit the contact area with the after treatment filter system and also provides an air gap. However, the electronic components on the mounting bracket may still be subject to thermal impacts and also may be prone to mechanical damage as they are relatively exposed.
Against this background there is provided an emissions cleaning module and an associated electronics support unit.